Elongated items such as lumber products, pipe, conduit, standard metal stock and the like present a special set of problems in the organization, storage and display of such items. Businesses which handle such items, such as lumber yards, building supply outlets and warehouses find it desirable to organize the items in a logical scheme based upon a physical characteristic of the items which allows for orderly and efficient inventorying, management and supply of the items to their customers. For example, pvc pipe stock could be organized in different groups according to pipe diameter. There are at least 6 different standard pvc pipe diameters commonly available. Customers or warehousemen desiring pipe of a specified diameter could easily find exactly what they need from among a large volume of pipe stock if the stock is conveniently organized into groups by the pipe diameter. Pipe stock could also be organized according to length, there being two standard lengths, 10' and 20', available. Similarly, lumber could be organized by its characteristic dimensions (2.times.4, 4.times.4, etc.) or by the type of wood (pine, maple, oak, mahogany).
Organization of the items is only part of the problem however. Elongated items, as described above, are bulky and difficult to store. For example, pipe stock is not inherently stackable for neat and compact storage. If not supported by a rack of some kind, pipe stock will tend to roll and seek ground, creating a jumble of piping which needs constant attention. In a self-service retail store, such as a building supply outlet, where customers themselves draw the items from store stock directly, the orderly display of the items is important to promote sales, allow easy and convenient customer access and to ensure the safety of customers.
In addition to the problems of storage outlined above, it is also inherently difficult to handle bulky elongated items to replenish depleted stock. Stacking the items either in a rack or a self-contained pile is typically done by hand one piece at a time, thus proving to be an expensive, labor intensive effort. During this process the items run an increased risk of breakage or other damage occurring.
Some lumber yards or building supply outlets use forklifts or tow motors to handle elongated items in bulk which are "palletized" or otherwise temporarily banded together when delivered to the yard. An employee removes the pallet of pipe or lumber (for example) from the delivery truck via a forklift or tow motor and then brings the pallet to the storage rack and places the entire pallet into the rack. The employee then cuts the bands holding the items, which are supported on the rack for display and dispensing to customers. The problem inherent in this system is that the racks must be spread out over a relatively large area of the yard or store, as seen in FIG. 7. Sufficient space must be provided between the racks, typically on the order of 10' or more, to allow room for the forklift to maneuver between the racks to replenish depleted racks with the elongated items. The simple 12 rack system shown in FIG. 7 occupies 124 linear feet and requires approximately 2660 square feet of floor space to display a plurality of ten and twenty foot long items arranged in 12 categories. Much of the area is wasted dead space, unusable to display more items or other store wares.